On the 4th of June 2016, EcoKnights along with MENGO and Sunway Property held the Discovery Walk 2.0 at Sunway South Quay in conjunction with World Environment Day which is officially celebrated on the 5th of June. An overwhelming number of over 500 participants were present during the event and founder and president of EcoKnights and chairperson of MENGO, Mrs. Yasmin Rasyid, as well as executive director of Sunway Property, Ms. Sarena Cheah were in jubilant mood.

Participants arrived as early as 6am for registration and lingered around the stunning and beautiful lake for their breakfast and some photographs while waiting for the flag off which started at 8am. Other vendors such as Tree Project, Tzu Chi, MNS, Tanamera, and many more arrived early in the morning as well to set up their booths and get ready for the day.

Mr. Kevin Chong from Traxx FM and TV2 was also back as the emcee for Discovery Walk 2.0 and was as ecstatic and energetic as he was while emceeing at Discovery Race Ipoh in Sunway Tambun, saying that he was totally excited and happy to be back emceeing at a green event for such a good cause.

A short briefing on the rules and regulations of the walk was then presented by Mr. Awang from MENGO, followed by a stretching session led by EcoKnights Zharif and Emirul as well as Mr. Awang.

Mrs. Yasmin Rasyid, Ms. Sarena Cheah and Mr. Tan Wee Bee, deputy managing director of the property development division for Malaysia and Singapore of Sunway Berhad, then officiated the start of the walk with a Race for a Better Planet and Sunway Property flag, along with a race horn. Plenty of pictures were taken and the participants were eager to start the walk.

After the race horn was blown, participants rushed, trying to walk faster than the others. They had to complete 7 checkpoints, all spread out around Sunway South Quay and had to count the number of bottles hung near the exit before walking toward the checkpoints.

Figure 3: Participants counting the number of coloured bottles before exiting.

A number of participants were also seen pushing strollers with them as they were completing the walk. As the winner of the walk is not determined by how fast participants can complete it, they are able to take their time walking as long as they make it back to the last checkpoint before 10am.

Figure 4: Baby-friendly walk - participants are allowed to bring their children along, provided that they are supervised at all times.

After the race, workshops and performances were held and participants were also able to move around freely to check out some of the stalls we had during the event as well as have their lunch.

Figure 5: No Noise Percussion presenting a very energetic performance for the participants to bob their heads to.

Figure 6: Bah Rah Man from Gombak impressively playing the flute with just his nose.

Participants mentioned that they enjoyed the event, saying that the tasks and questions presented at the checkpoints were educational, creating eco-awareness among the community. They also really liked the fact that this event is family-friendly, allowing children even as young as 4 years old to attend.

Figure 7: Some of the participants going crazy on stage with some volunteers from Sunway Property, EcoKnights and MENGO.

The head project director, Muhammad Zharif Jasni, said that he is very happy with how the whole event panned out according to plan and he was elated as not only the participants but also the interns and volunteers enjoyed themselves at the event.

It is undoubtedly encouraging to know that so many more people are doing their part in trying to make this planet a better place to live in. President Mrs. Yasmin Rasyid also mentioned that she was glad to see so many young children attending, as they will be the ones leading us toward a better future and a better planet.